Burt was six when I got him from the local Cairn Rescue. Lynda Hammel set me up and helped me get Burt crate trained. He soon earned the right to live outside of the crate, sleeping on a bed right outside my bedroom door.

Burt was a quiet, mellow, happy little dog. Although Cairns normally only weigh about 15 pounds he was closer to 20, a “Giant Cairn.” No Toto here. We’d walk around the block a couple times a day checking “pee mail” and hunting “wabbits.”

We were best buds for more than five years, but in July of 2002 I noticed that he was really slowing down. Then I noticed that he was thirsty all the time so I took him to the vet, expecting a simple urinary infection or something treatable. The vet determined that he had diabetes so I started giving him insulin.

Unfortunately, the insulin didn’t control his blood sugar. The excessive glucose in his system really started to take a toll—first he went blind, then his hearing started to go, and finally he couldn’t even make it around the block any more. So on October 15, 2002—after a big glass of his favorite beverage Bailey’s Irish Creme (bottom photo)—his other two favorite people (Meg and George) accompanied us to the vet where I held him as he passed.

As difficult as that was, I had some comfort in knowing that he would have really suffered during the long winter of 2002-03. It seemed like the snow was taller that he was for months at a time!